


The shadow behind you

by ShhhItIsATitok



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mutants, Found Family, Mutant Powers, Outside the Law, will update as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:55:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28677024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShhhItIsATitok/pseuds/ShhhItIsATitok
Summary: Many things can connect people. Sometimes it's common interests, sometimes time and place, sometimes art.It's pure coincidence that these 13 boys meet. But maybe that's what they need to save one from the darkness following him.
Kudos: 3





	1. The Lady and the snake

**Author's Note:**

> Just here to have fun
> 
> Inspired by: Fractured by Beaa.  
> It's really good! If you want to check it out: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13375833/chapters/30632913

The can hissed loudly, the sound echoing in the empty alley. It was the only sound in there, scaring a stray cat out from behind the trashcan the girl was standing on. The cat scurried away, but he paid it no mind, too focused on the art he was making.

The light blue paint contrasted well with the previously sprayed-on browns and reds, standing out against the dark wall. He made broad strokes, covering big parts of the alley wall in his favorite color.

It didn’t look complete from up-close when he put the cap back on the can, but when he stepped as far as he could, almost pressed up against the opposite, equally dirty wall, and looked at it from there, it was clear, that he was finished.

The painting was of a woman with dark skin and bright blue hair, her eyes a similar color. She was holding a small snake in her hand, the tiny green reptile curled around her fingers, looking up at her peacefully.

It didn’t have a meaning. He didn’t want it to, didn’t think it needed one. It looked pretty. And that was his only goal with it. Hopefully, it would make a person smile. Then his goal would be achieved.

So he nodded to himself while he looked for a turquoise colored can in his bag to sign the art piece.

He thought of them as art pieces, his children, even if others would argue that _graffiti isn’t art_ , he only had to think of the many hours and work that went into one to appreciate them. Not only his own, scattered throughout the city, but every single one he’s ever seen. He thought back to his hometown, where an artist with the initials TN created at least 20 large graffiti, and how he would visit them when things got stressful at school.

When he finally found the can he was looking for at the bottom of his bag, he shook it up while searching for the perfect place to sign the picture. He decided the place under the lady’s hand was good, so he quickly wrote the word ‘Shadow’ there.

After he deemed it done, he packed his spray cans back in his bag, shrugged it on his shoulder, and took off on the roof, leaving the dark alley behind.


	2. First reactions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet some of the boys, as they look at the work of Shadow.

“Look at it! No, just look! Isn’t it, just, amazing?”

“I’m pretty sure at this point Seungkwan is in love with this Shadow person, with how much he talks about them.”

“I think he would straight up marry them, if he knew who they were.”

“Hyungs, you don’t get it!” Seungkwan exclaimed. He had a petulant pout on his lips, and the hurt was audible in his voice.

The two looked at each other, feeling a little bad for upsetting their friend. They, unintentionally, belittled their friend’s interests, something he is very enthusiastic about.

“Sorry,” said Jeonghan.

“Yeah, we’re sorry. You’re right, we don’t really understand. But we’d be willing to try, so tell us! Why is Shadow so good?” tacked on Seokmin.

He contemplated for a second, but saw that they were genuine. “…Okay. First though, I have a question. What do you guys see, when you look at it?”

“Umm, a woman with a snake?” Jeonghan asked, a bit unsure, whether there was a wrong answer, and if he’d just said it.

“What do you think of her?” came the next question, which Seokmin answered.

“She has nice hair. And I like that her hair is the same color as her eyes. Also, the signature is the mixture of the hair’s and the snake’s colors, which is pretty cool, I guess…”

The two looked at each other, waiting for Seungkwan to correct them or do something. After a beat of silence, he quietly started speaking.

“I see someone who is hiding in the shadows, who is insecure. Someone who prefers the company of animals over people. Someone who would much rather spend time alone, at night, than with others at any time of day. I see someone who is lonely and tired, but a fighter.”

Jeonghan and Seokmin stood silently for a moment, processing what Seungkwan had said.

“Wait, is that about the woman or Shadow?” “So you’re telling me you got all that from a single picture?” asked Seokmin and Jeonghan at the same time.

“Shadow, and I mean, …no? I got _all that_ from multiple graffities. I’ve been following their work for a long time, and all of their paintings give off those kind of vibes,” Seungkwan replied. “But, kinda from this one, too? The alias itself is about the hiding from the world. She is staring at the snake, ignoring us, basically, so animals are dearer to Shadow, than people. The dark colors symbolize loneliness and night, she also can blend into the background, but her hair and eyes stick out, so I think Shadow feels they don’t fit in. Snakes have venom, and are more dangerous than at first glance. Everything is a choice, from the characters to colors.”

Before the other two could say anything Seokmin’s phone rang. After a short conversation (mostly consisting of “ok”-s on Seokmin’s end) he hung up and turned to the others.

“Hoshi said we should head back, the DEM’s coming.”

They left the alley without protests, knowing the severity of the situation. On the way, they good-heartedly teased Seokmin about Soonyoung calling him, when there were two other options, causing the tall man to blush furiously.

Seungkwan glanced over his shoulder to catch one last glimpse of the blue-haired lady, before following the other two. He sadly didn’t have more time to marvel at it any longer if he didn’t want to get caught by the DEM soldiers.


	3. History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a history lesson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> World-building, I guess...

Humanity evolves. It always did, so scientists shouldn’t have been so surprised when the first mutant appeared on the American continent.

Literally. He could teleport.

Whenever humans find something new they experiment on it. They naturally seek knowledge, so they tried to understand how and why he could do what he could.

But those experiments, the things they did to him, they weren’t healthy for him.

He wasn’t seen as human, because he was _different_. It was much easier for the empathetic people to think of him as an "it". "It has powers, it can teleport, unlike us humans. To study it we humans might have to hurt it, but maybe it feels pain differently, if it can feel things at all." But they never really found a reason for the abilities, a specific mutated gene to look for, or a visible feature. To this day, no one knows why some people can do the things they can.

What humans don’t understand, they fear.

And, when later others started to show up, all with different powers, or _mutations_ , they were feared as well.

It wasn’t long before that fear turned into violence.

The humans had erased country lines for a long time at that point, working under a Collective Government since 1946, so creating a special police force to deal with these new _mutants_ was simple. They named it the Department of Eradicating Mutants for the Protection of All Humans, or the DEMPAH for short, although most people only knew it as the DEM.

These powerful mutants were and are hunted, assaulted, imprisoned, and killed for being different (not a first or abnormal occurrence in human history).


End file.
